New Steps, Old Truths: Kinky Boots Reborn with Leah Hill

Those are the things that appealed to choreographer Leah Hill. “The story, the music and the message all drew me to it,” she says. “It’s really clever in how it challenges audiences to talk more about certain things, whether it’s to do with sexuality, identity, gender, race, different communities and cultures.”

The beautiful thing about theatre is that it’s a platform to start conversations.

Hill triumphed at the Black British Theatre Awards for her choreographic debut with the Hope Mill Theatre’s revival of The Wiz. Her other credits include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Fiery Angel, and she was assistant choreographer on the smash hit films Wicked and Aladdin.

The challenge with Kinky Boots is: “In the original production it was so beautifully done that it makes you wonder ‘What could I possibly add?’ But I get to make it bespoke for the actors I’m working with and in some ways Nikolai’s approach is more visceral. This version is a new take, so we’re creating different languages for these different communities of people.”

The music, she adds, is priceless. “It’s gorgeous and it’s really exciting. It is such a feel-good show and what we’re doing within that is trying to get people to really listen to the lyrics. I feel like I can contribute to that with movement, by heightening certain things.”

The show is set in the mid-2000s, before RuPaul’s Drag Race came along and drag was less mainstream. “And it wasn’t as polished per se as it is now,” Leah points out, “so that’s something which has been really interesting to dig into. The stakes for drag performers back then were higher, it was perhaps a bit more dangerous for those communities to perform, and I want to pay homage to that. It’s beautiful where drag has landed, but it’s important to show where it started.”